By Callum Keown
XRP rebounded early Tuesday after falling below the $2 level for the first time since November amid broader market pressure.
The popular altcoin, which is used to facilitate transactions on Ripple Labs' digital-payments platform, was trading at $2.14 early in the day -- around 2% down over the past 24 hours. However, XRP plunged as low as $1.92 overnight before launching a recovery.
While other assets have seen most, if not all, of their postelection gains completely wiped out in recent weeks, XRP is still up 328% since Nov.5. In comparison, the S&P 500 is down 3% since election day and Bitcoin has gained 18%.
President Donald Trump's victory sparked hopes of a more friendly environment for cryptocurrencies. It has helped the price of XRP, which is the subject of a legal case between the Securities and Exchange Commission and Ripple. Coinbase and Kraken both said recently that the SEC has dropped cases against them. If the Ripple case is the next to be dismissed it could boost XRP.
The altcoin was also namechecked by Trump as a cryptocurrency that could be included in the White House's digital asset stockpile. The plan doesn't include measures to buy more XRP, which disappointed traders, but its potential inclusion is a positive over the long-term.
The problem in the short-term is that cryptocurrencies are moving in tandem with the stock market, which come under severe selling pressure amid a raft of worries such as tariffs and an economic slowdown.
"The market is facing significant challenges as the macroeconomic environment worsens, and crypto assets are no exception," Sean Dawson, analyst at Derive.xyz said. "With bearish sentiment building, traders are turning to downside hedging strategies, especially as volatility surges across both traditional and crypto markets."
XRP is still 37% off its record high of $3.40 reached in January -- it may suffer a bit more pain before it can test that level again.
Write to Callum Keown at callum.keown@barrons.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
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March 11, 2025 07:35 ET (11:35 GMT)
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